Archive for Category ‘Mastery‘

Is there a single factor that keeps entrepreneurs and high potential employees from achieving their potential? I believe there is.

I’ve coached around 400 entrepreneurs and high potential employees over the past 15 years. As I think back, I’m truly amazed and humbled at the variety of situations, personalities, resources, mindsets, teams, markets, products, and organizations that I’ve worked with.

Early in my career, I was often giddy with the tools of the coaching trade that I’d studied and mastered. And in my eagerness to help (and let’s be honest, impress) my clients, I would frequently pull out all the stops.

And these sessions weren’t ineffective. Frequently one of the issues we’d tackle would provide a breakthrough: a better understanding of the prospect, a better way of phrasing a benefit or presenting an offer, a technique to get two more productive hours out of each workday, etc.

But while those benefits were accruing, I was subtly but unmistakeably doing something not so smart: contributing to my client’s overwhelm.

Even the wins couldn’t erase the feeling of “not enough” that came from waging so many battles simultaneously. Cliffhanger? Keep reading…

From the “Loving What Is” and “Manipulating the Hell Out of Myself” departments:

My 30th HS reunion is on March 23. Despite the fact that I am a mostly enlightened being, with no trace of shallowness in my soul, I find myself wanting to look really good that night. Like, 10-pounds-lighter good. Cliffhanger? Keep reading…

The true reason smart, creative, and motivated people spend time on low-value busywork at the expense of the big-picture stuff.

My client Felix (not his real name) was complaining to me about wasting huge amounts of time during his work week. An energetic, goal-oriented entrepreneur, he found himself doing technical and administrative tasks rather than the high-value activities that move his business forward.

This was true despite the fact that he has a staff and a reliable cadre of vendors whom he pays to perform exactly those technical and administrative functions. What is he thinking? Why is he engaging in low-value activities at the expense of the big-picture stuff he loves, and only he can do?

Not as successful as you know you can be? Think you need to buy another $2000 box of info or practice positive thinking? Maybe that’s part of the problem.

In this webinar, I share an organic model of success, and describe the 7 most common obstacles that I’ve observed, in myself and hundreds of students and coaching clients.

Spoiler alert: at the end of the webinar, I offer a discounted 30-minute Creative Instigation Coaching Session to help you move powerfully and confidently into 2013. There are still several spaces available.

In the book The Three Laws of Performance, the authors discuss the concept of a “life sentence”: a declaration you made about yourself in response to a tough situation that has in some ways ruled and limited your life ever since.

Watch this video to discover the power of the “life sentence,” and hear a little bit about one of mine that I’ve recently become aware of.

We all do things that seem logical to us, based on our interpretation of reality. And one of the most important elements of that reality is our assumed future.

When we believe a particular future is likely, we act in ways that are likely to bring it about. And when we don’t believe in a certain future – the one where we write our novel, for example – our behavior will not move us toward that future.

What do your actions and blockages reveal to you about the future as it stands now in your mind?

Preppers and survivalists love to discuss and share their EDC – their “every day carry” items that they never leave home without.

I too have an EDC: flashlight, multi-tool, duct tape, whistle, etc. But my most important EDC items are mental and emotional skills that I’ve practiced in safe and easy situations, so they’ll be available for me whenever I need them in more challenging situations.

Today I go deeper into words like “should,” “must,” “need to,” and “have to.” According to Marshall Rosenberg, author of Non-violent Communication, this type of language actually serves the purpose of allowing us to deny responsibility for our thoughts, words, and actions.

As creators of our own lives, we don’t want to fall into the illusion that we are not responsible for those lives. Whether it’s a seemingly small thing like planning our day, or a seemingly large thing like standing up for what we believe in, our own sense of agency will determine the quality and power of our commitments.

Howard Jacobson, PhD., is the author of Google AdWords For Dummies, available on every continent (except Antarctica) wherever fine books, overpriced brownies and cheesy calendars are sold.

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Testimonials about Howie’s advice

For me as a novice of Google’s AdWords world, Mr. Jacobson’s AdWords for Dummies book is like a beam of the lighthouse that helps you to navigate the turbulent waters of online advertising. Full of insights and advices, written in friendly and informal way it is a real tour de force.— Yuriy Gaponov, http://TarzanCo.com